The Second Time Around
by Iridescent Dust
Summary: AU, sorta. Takes place after the games, kinda. Kairi has disappeared, and Sora and Riku have once again left their islands to find out where and why she was taken. But this time, even together, are they in over their heads? R
1. Chapter 1 The Trouble With Thieves

This is my first time posting. It's a thought that was playing around in my head, and I decided I should see what other people think.

Takes place in an alternate reality, where the journey only takes place in one extremely diverse world, rather than many. Takes place when Sora is 18 and Riku is 19.

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. Neither are Gundam Wing or any Final Fantasy.

Enjoy!

Duo Maxwell's thoughts were, as usual, focused solely on food. He wandered the streets of the capitol of the Sanq Kingdom, searching for his potential breakfast.

He wandered about the busy market place, waving to those he knew, smiling cheerfully, swiping a wallet here and there. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see some of his street kids swiping their own breakfast and grinned to himself. He glanced up at the sky. It was going to be another beautiful day.

It was about mid-afternoon that it happened. It was one of the younger kids. He hadn't been careful enough. The shopkeeper caught him with the handful of fruit in his hands and instantly began shouting for the nearest law enforcer.

The kid was just lucky that Duo was passing by as it happened. Swearing, Duo leapt to a nearby awning, and then up to the roof of the building. As the kid tried to make a run for it, Duo threw down one of his smoke bombs, and swept the kid up to the roof, hissing for him to run. Duo then leapt into the middle of the confusion, twirling another smoke bomb in his hands. The guards who had been chasing the kid straightened at the sight of him. The captain recognized him instantly, "It's the ringleader! Grab him!"

Duo merely smirked and threw the bomb at them before taking off. The guards managed to dodge most of the smoke this time and took off after Duo, completely forgetting about the young boy they'd been chasing originally.

He ran easily through the crowded streets, easily staying ahead of them, laughing as he did. He skidded around a corner and right into another group of the Kingdom's guards. He grinned at them and fairly skipped past them, inwardly cursing his bad luck. Moments later, he could hear shouting and knew that the guards had joined in the chase. He shot through an alley, navigating his way through the maze-like city. Suddenly, he heard footsteps ahead of him. He turned back, but saw shadows moving towards him. He swore silently, he was surrounded. But not without options. He quickly swept to the nearest door, picking the lock and sliding in.

He quickly locked the door again behind him and moved to turn around when a startled shriek pierced the air. He whirled around and came face to face with a startled young woman. He held up his hands in panic, "Shh! Please, I'm not gonna hurt you or nothin'! I swear!"

She stared at him wide eyed, edging back. There was a sudden pounding on the door. Duo froze glancing at the door. He turned back to the girl, silently begging her. He then dove behind a nearby desk, his only chance was to pray that this girl helped him.

There was more pounding on the door. The girl stiffly moved to the door. "Open up!" a voice shouted on the other side. Duo cringed as he recognized the guard's voice. An odd look crossed the girl's face, and she seemed to gather herself together before opening the door.

"Yes?"

The guard looked surprised to see her, but raised a hand, "We're looking for a thief. He was just spotted heading down this alley. He's about this tall," he indicated Duo's approximate height, "Has purple eyes and long brown hair in a braid. Have you seen anyone resembling that?"

The girl paused and Duo took a deep breath and waited.

"No, I can't remember seeing any thief matching that description running by."

The guard's eyes narrowed, "Are you sure?"

The girl drew herself up to full height, which wasn't all that impressive, "Of course I'm sure. Are you insinuating that because I'm a girl that I'm incapable of anything?"

The guard looked startled, "Err…"

"That's what I thought. You know what; I don't need to be insulted this way. Get off of my master's property and leave me alone. I'm in the middle of some very important research and you are ruining my concentration. Do you have any idea how close I am to deciphering the Scrolls of Mandea? Do you have any idea how much work I've put into this?"

The guard stared at her open-mouthed.

The girl snorted, "That's what I thought. Go hunt your thief elsewhere." This was punctuated by the slamming of the door. Duo poked his head around the desk to look at the girl in disbelief.

She was staring at the door, looking a bit disbelieving herself. "I can't believe I just did that…"

Duo stood up, "Me either. Thanks."

She looked at him, "I don't trust you. I know you're a thief. I just… trust them less."

Duo nodded, he could accept that. He pressed his ear against the door and sighed. They were definitely still out there.

He glanced back at the girl who was still eyeing him nervously and turned to her, offering his hand, "Name's Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie!"

Despite herself, the girl smiled, taking his hand tentatively, "Amara Shifte."

Duo grinned at her widely, "It's a pleasure."

She flushed lightly, but nodded, "Yeah."

They released hands and Duo looked about curiously. There were books and papers everywhere, covering every surface, "Er, is this some kind of a bookstore?"

She blushed again, shaking her head, "No. I'm a linguist's apprentice. We work in translating and interpreting ancient texts."

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Is that right? Does that ever get…um… boring?"

She laughed, "Yeah, but sometimes it's really interesting. I learn a lot about ancient people, and I've always loved history. But it does get frustrating and boring sometimes. But it's the only thing I'm really any good at. I guess I just have a knack for languages."

They talked all afternoon. Amara's master was away on some kind of archaeological dig or something of the sort. He did a lot of traveling, leaving Amara to her own devices quite often. So most of her work was done out of pure boredom. But Duo was delighted to find that she was a quick-witted young woman, and she also enjoyed cooking. So he had the best meal he'd had without having to steal for it in probably a year. But as the sun set, he knew he had to get back.

"Well, thanks for everything, I owe ya," he winked, and stepped out the door. Amara sighed, there went her entertaining evening. Odd, really, how a thief like that could have such charm. He didn't really seem so bad.

Duo slipped into the familiar back alleys, glancing over his shoulder. No doubt, they'd still be looking for him. He scowled, the Princess was really alright. But the rest of the government was a about as innocent as he was. He supposed he could really just get caught. He'd get out right away anyway. No cell in Sanq could hold him.

"Oi! Over here! I found him!"

Duo swore. He'd been careless. Almost instantly he found himself surrounded by the city guards. He covered his frustration, and plastered a grin across his face.

"Hey there, guys, what's going on, eh?"

"Don't play innocent, thief," snapped the one who seemed to be in charge.

Duo blinked at them, "Innocent? I don't know what you mean."

The guard snorted at him, "You've caused us problems for the final time. There's no need for us to take you anywhere. Nameless people die in the streets every day. You will be no different."

Duo began to feel slightly apprehensive. He hadn't counted on this. He could defend himself, sure. But they'd really outdone themselves this time. He was far too outnumbered, weaponless, and cornered.

He was, in a word, screwed, "Aw, come on guys. Can't we all get along?"

"Not going to be able to talk yourself out of this one, street rat," the guard raised his arm in a signal, "Kill hi-"

"Hold it," a new voice spoke.

Everyone in the alleyway whirled to face the new speaker. In the shadows, a figure lounged against the wall lazily.

The guard bristled at being interrupted, "Get out of here, lowlife, or you'll be next."

The figure chuckled, and stepped from the shadows revealing a lanky form with unruly, unnaturally red hair, "Somehow, I doubt you'd manage it," he smirked.

The guard's jaw dropped, "You! I- I'm sorry, sir. I didn't recognize you."

Duo noted the guard was shaking.

The newcomer's brilliant blue-green eyes narrowed, but there was a dangerous smile on his face, enhanced by the twin scars beneath his eyes, "I think that's enough out of you, Captain. Get outta here. I'll deal with this."

The Captain was nervous, but persistent, "A Turk such as yourself should not have to lower yourself to dealing with such-"

"I said that I was going to deal with this, do not try my patience," the red-haired man snapped.

The Captain bobbed his head, motioning for his guards to stand down, and they quickly exited the alleyway. Leaving Duo alone with the Turk.

The said Turk watched them until he was sure they were gone, and then glared at Duo with fierce eyes, "You are so damn lucky I happened to be passing by."

Duo beamed at him, "Aww, come on Reno, I didn't do nothing, honest!"

Reno snorted back at him, "Right. You're also lucky you're my best informant." Reno sighed, slumping back against the wall.

Duo frowned at him in concern, "What's eating you?"

"The Princess is worried," Reno trailed off, "It's the damn bureaucrats. She just doesn't have the power to control them anymore. Things are getting out of hand."

Duo frowned, "I heard about the raid in the Seventh Sector."

Reno winced, "You would have." The Turk groaned, "Dammit, I don't know how much longer she's going to be in control. They're seizing everything little by little, and the Constitution just isn't strong enough. The Judiciary's being bought out, and the military and Parliament are ruled by the same people. Everything sliding down a path I hate to imagine."

Two silent pairs of eyes exchanged glances. The sea-green colored eyes narrowed in thought, the innocent sky blue eyes worried. The two slunk away into the darkening night.

Duo watched him carefully, Reno looked old beyond his 20 years, carrying burdens no one as young as he should carry. He snorted ruefully; _I guess I should speak for myself, eh? _

"I need a drink," Reno groaned.

"You're not legal," smirked Duo.

Reno raised an eyebrow at him, "Since when has that ever stopped me?"

"Touché."

Reno pushed himself away from the wall he'd been leaning against, "I gotta head back soon. You got anything for me?"

Duo shook his head, "It's a quiet week on the street. Unless of course you count petty theft?"

Reno rolled his eyes, "Goodnight thief."

"Goodnight assassin-slash-mercenary-slash-kidnapper-slash-"

"Shuddup you."

"Yessir."

Reno snorted, shaking his head at said thief, "You'll be the death of me Duo Maxwell."

"They don't call me the God of Death for nuthin'."

A flicker of emotion almost like sadness flashed in Reno's eyes for a moment, but it was gone so quickly that Duo was sure he'd imagined it, "No, I suppose not." With that, he turned and strode down the alley, "Stay outta trouble," he called as he walked away, raising a hand in farewell.

Duo chuckled watching him go; _I attract trouble like flame attracts a moth._ But still, the whole conversation had been… odd. It wasn't like Reno to be so worried, he was usually a cocky, arrogant bastard. Duo chuckled to himself. Even so, Reno was brilliant at what he did and a good friend too. Reno wore a mask. It was as good as Duo's own. Today had been a rare slip of that mask. Reno hid behind his arrogance and cocky smirk, Duo hid behind his smile. It just made living easier.


	2. Chapter 2 Sanq's Dilemma

A/N: Chapter 2 here. Riku and Sora are formally introduced. I'm sure you've noticed, but there will be crossovers in this story (like Gundam Wing/ Final Fantasy) But it will not all take place in the Sanq Kingdom.

I apologize if the characters are OOC, but I'm still getting the hang of this. If you have any pointers, send 'em this way!

Disclaimer: Not mine

"Wait up Riku," scowled Sora, panting to keep up with the taller boy striding briskly in front of him. Riku didn't say anything, but his pace did slow. Sora glanced up at him, "What was that all about?"

Riku shook his head, "Wait until we get back." Sora nodded, and they kept walking silently. They silently slipped into an alleyway. Riku reached out and touched a door that hadn't seemed to be there before, and it swung open, and the two slipped into the room. Sora sighed, lowering his hood, shaking out his unruly brown hair that seemed to spike in every direction.

"I don't know Riku," he commented, turning to the taller figure, "as interesting as that conversation was, it wasn't really anything we didn't know already."

Riku lowered his own hood, turning his shadow-cast sea colored eyes to Sora, "I know," a frown crossed his face, and Sora could practically see his brain working through the darkness. Sometimes Riku thought more than was necessary, and more than was healthy, in Sora's opinion. He watched Riku pull out a strip of black cloth. He had to look away as Riku pulled the cloth over his eyes and knotted it securely in place, "You can turn on the lights now."

Sora nodded sadly, even though Riku couldn't see it, and flicked on a light. Riku winced slightly as the lights came on, but didn't say anything else for a few moments.

"Sora, this is getting us nowhere. We have no leads, and no idea what we're doing this time around," Riku trailed off, "Sora, last time you had leads, allies, you knew what you had to do. This time, we don't even know what the problem is, this time-"

"This time I have you on my side," Sora interrupted, "This time, my best friend will be with me every step of the way. There's nothing we can't figure out together." For a moment, Riku thought Sora was going to just glare at him, but then Sora shot him his cheesiest grin, and even if Riku couldn't see it, he knew it was there, and couldn't help but laugh.

"All right, whatever you say, you're the hero here," snorted Riku.

Sora grinned at him, "So are you, so stop it with the pouting."

"I am not pouting!" Riku sighed, "I'm sorry, you're right, it's just…"

For a moment, Sora's sky blue eyes seemed to dim and the grin slipped, just for a moment, "…Kairi…"

A look of regret crossed Riku's face, he reached out and ruffled Sora's hair affectionately, "Hungry?"

Instantly, Sora's face brightened, "I'm starving!"Riku chuckled and moved past him into the kitchen.

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The morning of the Conference dawned dreary and overcast. Duo had been up for several hours when he snuck his way inside the Royal Complex's walls. This information needed to get to the Princess as soon as possible. He crept down empty halls, avoiding the odd sentry. He almost thought it was too easy; security was oddly lax for such a high-profile event. Especially since…

He froze as the sound of voices and footsteps reached his ears, sweeping from plain sight. The voices approached, and as they grew louder, he was able to identify several familiar ones.

"Really, Highness, I don't see the need for all of this extra security, your Preventers, personal guard, and my own guard is quite enough. The extra soldiers have other tasks they could be seeing to, couldn't they?" Quatre asked the regal young woman walking beside him. To her other side, a young man strode with purpose, focused and alert. To Quatre's other side walked a tall young man, equally alert and focused. Behind them, he could hear Wu Fei grumbling irritably about 'babysitting', and fought back a smile. Wu Fei would complain, but he really didn't mind, he was just hiding the fact that he was glad to see them.

And then there were the guards, completely surrounding all of them. Quatre sighed, it really was unnecessary.

"Well, Mr. Winner, the Parliament insisted on the extra security," the young woman replied.

"Please, Highness, call me Quatre, I think we've known each other long enough."

"Only if you drop the Highness and just call me Relena," the young woman countered, her dark eyes sparkling.

Quatre smiled ruefully, but anything he wanted to say in response was halted when the young man to Relena's right stopped, placing an arm in front of Relena protectively.

"Heero?" she asked, looking concerned.

"There's someone there." With that, Heero, seized the firearm at his side and aimed it at the ceiling and fired.

"Whoa, whoa! Hold it!" and indignant voice shouted from the general vicinity Heero had shot at.

A rustle of cloth and Duo Maxwell landed in the midst of the party, "And here I thought you'd be glad to see me."

The guards raised their weapons at him instantly, but Relena raised her hand in dismissal, "It's all right, at ease." She turned to Duo, "Mr. Maxwell, how do you manage such things?"

Duo beamed at her brightly, "Princess, I only need follow my heart and it leads me straight to you. No obstacle is too great for-"

"Shut up before I shoot you."

"Heero! What's wrong? Jealous? Don't worry, I didn't forget you," with an almost evil grin, Duo bounded up to the blue eyed man with the weapon.

Quatre eyed Heero nervously, knowing that he would indeed pull the trigger, even if Duo was the closest thing to a friend that Heero had ever had. Thinking quickly, Quatre stepped forward, placing his own body between Duo and Heero's gun. Duo didn't miss a beat and all but tackled Quatre in delight, "Q! How have you been?"

Despite himself, Quatre grinned, "I've been well, Duo."

"Awesome! And Trowa! Wu Fei!"

Relena shook her head, a small smile on her face, "Duo, as wonderful as it is to see you again, we do have a great deal to do today, so-"

"I know, and I apologize," Duo turned to her with an unusually serious look, he moved to her, his mouth up to her ear, "Stay away from the conference," her murmured, "Trust me on this."

She turned her eyes to meet his sharply, "Duo," she hissed, but she stopped, his eyes were pleading, there was no hint of a joke in his eyes.

Heero glanced between them, then exchanged looks with Trowa and Wu Fei. Wu Fei was glaring at Duo, and Duo met his eyes, "Trust me," he repeated.

Relena stared at him for a moment longer, and then nodded at Heero. Heero nodded back, "Let's go." He motioned the extra guard to move on without them. They didn't move. Heero's eyes narrowed. "Move," he ground out in a stone cold voice with a glare.

To most people, that glare was reason enough to run in the opposite direction as fast as possible. Coupled with that tone of voice, it was reason enough to do it screaming bloody murder. But the guards stayed.

"Sir, we were told to bring you to the conference hall," the Captain said.

"I'm telling you it's not necessary," Heero responded, a look of irritation beginning to cross his face.

"I'm sorry sir, but those were our explicit orders."

"Your Ruler is ordering you to move."

"The Parliament says otherwise."

Duo watched the exchange with fascination. _ This guard must have some kind of death wish…_

No sooner had Duo thought that, Heero's gun came whipping out again, aimed at the head guard's forehead. Instantly, weapons were trained on Relena, Heero, Quatre, Trowa, Wu Fei, and Duo. Relena's eyes were wide with shock at this blatant betrayal. Slowly, the five young men pulled out weapons, and Duo sighed dramatically, "Just like old times, fighting another losing battle…"

"Hn," responded Heero, and the five young men burst into action. Wu Fei dove in, broadsword drawn. Trowa lashed out with his fists, using his agility, protecting Quatre, who had two long daggers drawn. It was clear that the guards were reluctant to attack Relena, but the boys were sure that in the madness, there was a high possibility of her being injured. Duo wrapped his arms around her waist, and with a bound, and a flash of smoke, disappeared. Almost instantly, the other four boys also made their getaways.

Relena's heart pounded and her breath grew ragged as Duo practically dragged her down the deserted halls. Her mind was racing, she wasn't stupid, and she'd known her grasp on power was slipping, but this… she couldn't believe it. She suddenly realized that Heero had appeared beside them, and he suddenly lifted her and continued running.

"Yo! Over here!" a voice shouted. A young man with wild red hair and an untidy suit was motioning at them wildly.

"Reno!" panted Duo.

"Hurry up, yo!" Reno motioned them after him, and turned down a side hall, disappearing about halfway down the hall. Heero exchanged a glance with Duo, who shrugged and followed the Turk.

"We can trust him."

Heero nodded and they followed Reno through the hidden door, just as the shouts of the guards signaled that they'd just run past.

Duo panted, slumping against the door, "Thanks Reno."

Reno grinned weakly, "'S what I'm here for." He turned to Relena, "Your Highness, sorry I'm late." Duo couldn't help but chuckle. It was the most respect Reno had ever shown anyone in his life, he was sure.

Reno groaned, "I could really use a drink, yo."

It was then that Duo noticed that Trowa, Quatre, and Wu Fei were also present, none looking any worse for the wear.

Heero glanced at the Turk, "What is your division doing?"

Reno shrugged, "I think it's pretty split, we were established by Parliament for Parliament, but most of us are loyal to Your Majesty. Some moved towards Parliament, but Tseng's pissed as hell. He, Rude, and Elena are trying to figure out exactly what's going on. He just told me to get you all here. I'm not entirely sure what's goin' on, but my guess is it's along the lines of a coup."

Duo nodded in agreement, "I overheard something along those lines this morning. Got here as quick as I could."

Reno glared at him, "You're supposed to know about these things before they happen, yo," he complained.

Duo shrugged, "Can't be perfect all the time."

Reno frowned, creeping over to another door Duo hadn't noticed before, pressing his ear up against it. "They need Princess here; we can't stay in the palace."

The others nodded in agreement.

Reno sat quietly, ear pressed against the door for a few more moments, then, looking satisfied, nodded to himself, "Ok, let's go."

The door opened slowly, and Reno pulled out an odd rod-like weapon, flipping a hidden switch. The weapon hummed to life with a crackle of electricity, and Reno slowly stepped outside. The five young men surrounded Relena, and cautiously followed Reno out.

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Sora yawned, stretching like a cat as he walked the crowded streets in the late morning hours, "Today's that conference-y thing, right?"

The hooded figure at his side nodded. Sora sighed, it was so hot out and there Riku was, wandering around in a black coat with the hood pulled up. But they were trying to keep attention away from him, and a boy bright silver hair and a blindfold pulled over his eyes drew a lot more attention that a non-descript figure in black. "How're your eyes?" he asked softly.

"It's fine," Riku responded. He breathed in deeply, an odd look crossing his face.

Sora spotted it instantly, "What's wrong?"

"I smell something…"

At that point, the shouting started. A soldier staggered into their view and collapsed in the arms of a vendor, shouting, "A coup! There's been a coup against Princess Relena!"

The soldier's repeated shouting of this caused murmurs at first, then the sound of gunshots beyond the walls sparked panic. People were running and screaming, shouting in anger and fear.

Sora shot a glance at, "Riku, the Princess…"

Riku's covered eyes glared down at Sora, and Sora winced, even covered, he could feel the intensity of Riku's gaze, "Sora, it's not our problem."

"But-"

"No, this is not our nation, not our concern. We cannot meddle in the world order. Any action we make in this could spell disaster."

"But, Riku! You just said you smelled something! There might be more to this than we realize…"

"Sora, you are a Keyblade Master. Know your duty!"

Sora let out an uncharacteristic growl of frustration, "You're the one that needs to remember his duty! Please, Riku!"

"There's nothing we can do, we don't know what's going on."

"We have to do something! The people here love their Princess, please, Riku."

"Sora…" Riku was relenting, and he knew it. The mere mention of the word 'Princess' was enough to set Sora off. He was thinking of Kairi again. Riku scowled, massaging his eyes through the blindfold with one hand. "Fine."

Sora's eyes lit up, "Thanks, Riku." And he turned and ran for the palace. Riku paused for a moment. He had a bad feeling about this, but he quickly took off after his friend.

A/N: I remembered from Chain of Memories that Riku had the ability to smell darkness, or something, so I integrated it in.

Well, things are starting to heat up.


	3. Chapter 3 The Shadow's Descent

Chapter 3 here. Sorry it hasn't had much of Sora and Riku yet, I promise they are the main characters and will take over. I dunno, if I don't get any reviews, I'll probably discontinue the story.

Disclaimer: None of it's mine

Previous Chapter:

"_We have to do something! Please Riku!"_

"_Fine."_

_Sora's eyes lit up, "Thanks, Riku." And he turned and ran for the palace. Riku paused for a moment. He had a bad feeling about this…_

Chapter 3

Reno slunk around the corner, frowning. The Parliament's guards were suddenly everywhere. He disappeared back around the building to face the six young people following him. He shook his head, "I have one more idea. But we have to move fast."

The old service shaft hadn't been used since before the Princess was born. They were blocked off, dilapidated, and collapsing. Completely the last place anyone would take the ruler of their nation; well, anyone loyal anyway. And yet, that was indeed Reno's last option. They raced through the shadows, using their combined knowledge of the grounds to stay hidden. Reno raced around the corner, and stopped dead. Duo ran smack into him and fell over. Reno turned, grabbed him, and pushed the others back, "Run!"

The bullets burst out behind them, for Reno had run straight into one of the units searching for them. He stuck his rod back into its loop on his belt, and pulled out a firearm, sniffing at it in dislike. He whirled, shooting two quick shots and racing after the others, not bothering to see if he'd hit his marks. Duo was now leading, knowing of an alternative route to the shaft. The bullets burst around them, but Heero and Reno covered the rear, periodically firing behind them. Reno hissed as fire burned across his side. Heero glanced at him, and they turned and ran as quickly as they could after the others, Reno tossing his own smoke bomb behind them as they disappeared around a corner.

As they ran, Reno clutched his burning side, swearing at the red seeping through his suit. He cringed, _Tseng's gonna skin me alive for ruining another suit…_ His musing was interrupted as he slammed straight into Wu Fei, who had stopped.

"What the-?"

Nobody noticed him, and Wu Fei didn't even snap at him, they were all focusing on the sky, which had turned an unnatural shade of purplish-black. Reno found his jaw dropping, "What the ff-" He was cut off mid-swear by an elbow in his gut courtesy of Relena. He gingerly held a hand over his stomach, particularly the wound in his side.

The group noticed the shadows were… growing, and they were moving in an almost unnatural way. The shadows seemed to be creeping towards them, surrounding them. Warily, they once again pulled their weapons. Suddenly, the shadows began to rise from the ground. Black creatures were forming all around them, glowing yellow eyes fixed on the people they surrounded. An unnatural chill went up Reno's spine. What the hell were these things? They moved forward.

Heero was the first to fire. Six quick consecutive shots into the closest shadow-being, and it did nothing. Reno gripped his electro-mag rod tighter. If bullets had no effect, what kind of chance did they stand? They unconsciously pulled closer together as the shadows advanced, black claws extended.

"Strike Raid!" a voice roared from somewhere above them, and something flashed silver in the midst of the shadows. Several puffs of black smoke exploded and several of the shadow beings disappeared. Heero's eyes followed the silver flash to the roof of the building behind them. A figure reached out and the silver flash returned to its hand, revealing that it was some kind of sword-like weapon. The figure leapt off of the building, weapon raised at the black shadows. The only distinguishable feature this figure had was impossibly spiky brown hair. He, for they were sure that the figure was male, was a whirlwind of motion, lashing out at the shadows, diving amongst them, puffs of black smoke following him wherever he moved. The shadows were ignoring the seven people they had surrounded and were focusing solely on this figure. The fighter leapt suddenly into their midst, and turned bright blue eyes to them, revealing him to be a young man, "Is everyone alright?" He suddenly froze, his mouth hanging open in an 'O' as he spotted Relena.

"You're-"

"Sora!" another voice interrupted the boy's; the boy whirled in time to see a shadow leaping at him, claws aimed for his heart. He moved to raise his odd weapon, but it wasn't moving fast enough.

Just before it reached him it exploded in a burst of black smoke. A red and black weapon flew through it, and nearly hit the boy in the face before it suddenly reversed directions like a boomerang back in the direction it had come from. It was caught in the hands of a figure dressed in black.

"Sora! What are you doing!"

"Riku! That was my move!"

"Shut up and get to work!"

The brown haired boy groaned, but dove back into the fray.

Those in the group drew their blades, seeing as though any kind of firearm seemed to be useless against these creatures. Even these weapons seemed useless, but they caused more damage. Heero destroyed one; Duo figured it was just because he was super-human anyway. Duo was vaguely aware of gunshots still echoing around the grounds. Other soldiers seemed to be desperately clinging to the idea that their firearms would save them.

The other two figures, the brown haired boy and the black coated figure danced through the shadows, seemingly easily getting rid of them.

Two soldiers ran into view, firing rapidly.

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Riku panted, there seemed to be no end to them. His mind raced as he fought. What were they doing here? Why? How could they possibly be here? It didn't make sense. He vaguely noted two soldiers run into his vicinity, firing their firearms wildly. He also only vaguely noted it when one of them accidentally mistook him as one of the shadows, then winced as the bullet slammed into his abdomen, just below his rib cage. He faltered slightly, staggering a step, and then leapt right back in. _Why is it always me?_ He heard the soldiers scream, and winced as he knew what was happening to them. A moment later, he glanced and realized that they had disappeared. There was nothing he could do for them now.

He, like Sora, had realized that in the group of people that they'd stumbled across, was the Princess of Sanq. Of course, Sora had taken it upon himself to dive right in, and Riku had followed, knowing it was their best choice to protect that certain group of people. The group had wisely abandoned their firearms, and drawn blades, and seemed to be doing fairly well, considering they had never faced this enemy before.

A shrill scream distracted him, and he turned, recognizing the light of the Princess on the ground, one of her guardians seemed to be kneeling beside her. He swiftly moved towards them, coming to a stop next to them. He set his weapon on the ground beside him.

Heero glared up at the nondescript figure as he knelt beside Relena. He couldn't see the figure's face; the hood hid the stranger from view. He spared one glance at the odd weapon the figure had set down. It looked like some kind of… bat wing with an angel's wing sticking out the top. Altogether ridiculous, in Heero's opinion.

"I can help her," the voice came from behind the hood, a calm, confident, young man's voice, "Trust me."

Heero didn't trust him, but the wound was unusual, and Relena was in pain. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was to see her in pain.

He nodded.

Riku sighed in relief as the young man nodded. He winced, hand moving to his side, but he didn't touch it, not needing blood slicking his hands. He reached into his pocket, and swore mentally. Only one left. He could heal her, or he could heal himself. He glanced at her; he could see (he snorted inwardly at the term) the darkness pulsing from the wound the creature's claws had dealt her. Making his decision, he pulled the small bottle of green liquid from his pocket. He yanked the cork out, and moved lifted the girl's head, placing the bottle to her lips.

"Drink this," he murmured softly. She obliged and the green liquid poured down her throat. Almost instantly, the wound across her chest began to seal itself together. The blood flow stopped, and soon, only the faintest trace of the wound was left.

Heero blinked, but controlled the surprise he was feeling, "What was that."

The figure looked up at him, and Heero was surprised to note that he couldn't see the man's eyes because they were hidden behind some kind of blindfold.

"An elixir," the blindfolded man answered. He moved to stand up, and hissed in pain, sinking back down to the ground.

Relena, by this time, had recovered enough to be fully conscious again, and gasped, "You've been shot!" she cried in horror.

The wounded young man grunted in response, finally allowing his hand to move to the entry wound. When his hand pulled away, he couldn't see it, but he could feel the warm stickiness of blood.

Heero growled irritably, "Is there an exit wound?"

The man shook his head, "Think so." He hated how weak his voice sounded. He turned away from the pair behind him.

Throwing out his senses, he realized that most of the Shadows had disappeared. Sora was taking care of a rapidly diminishing group of them. He grabbed his blade and stood, fighting back the nausea that rose with him. Composing himself, he located some Shadows lurking in the alley and leapt back into action.

-----------------------------------------------

Sora's body pumped with adrenaline, he was tired, but the battle thrilled him. He was concerned about the appearance of the Shadows. But he was more of an 'act then think' type of person. So he pushed the worries from his mind and focused on the battle. He noticed a Shadow preparing to pounce and grinned to himself, summoning his power to him. "Ragnarok!"

Duo panted. Whatever the heck these things were, they were tough. The only ones having any success at all were the two with the funky weapons. He paused there was only a small group left, and the one with the spikes for hair was decimating them. He noticed one leaping at the young man, and opened his mouth to warn him. The young man had already noticed, and even grinned. The sky seemed to turn a violet color, and the young man seemed to be glowing. The kid leapt forward, "Ragnarok!" Duo blinked, _Raga whatnow? What is this kid-? _

His thoughts stopped there as the kid suddenly burst into action, propelled by some unseen force. A beam of light seemed to explode from his weapon, then that exploded into a dozen other beams, all pounding into the shadow. It shrieked and disappeared in a cloud of black. Duo blinked. Was that even possible?

Sora grinned as his feet hit the ground again. He turned to see Riku walking towards him. He could hear Riku chuckle, "Show off."

"Oh yeah, as if that Strike Raid at my face wasn't showing off."

Riku chuckled weakly. Sora peered at him in concern, "Hey, you ok?"

Riku waved him off, "Yeah, let's make sure there aren't any of them left wandering around." Sora nodded and bounded off. Riku sighed, and then glanced back at the group of people they'd helped out. They were gathering together, obviously checking each other over for injuries. He winced, knowing that Sora would be more than thorough in his sweep, dismissed his weapon, and moved to check the people.

As he walked up to them, they all turned to face him. Riku shifted uncomfortably on his feet, then raised a hand, "I assume you're all relatively unharmed if you're all standing. My name's Riku."

The one with violet eyes and brown hair pulled back into a long braid stepped forward first, "Duo. Duo Maxwell. Thanks for the help. You sure know how to deal with those things."

Riku nodded, "Let's just say we've… come across them before." Behind his blindfold, his eyes blinked. His head was pounding. He knew he was losing too much blood, and wished Sora would move faster so he could get this wound taken care of because he wasn't sure how long he was going to stay conscious.

"Hey," the one with the red hair said, "you ok?"

Riku opened his mouth to answer but no words came out as darkness claimed him.

A/N:


	4. Chapter 4 Of Explanations and Meddling

Disclaimer: None of the characters or anything belong to me. I just like to pretend they do.

"_Hey," the one with the red hair said, "you ok?"_

_Riku opened his mouth to answer but no words came out as darkness claimed him._

Reno noted that this Riku character seemed to be swaying on his feet, and no sooner than he had asked the guy if he was ok, he fell over. "Whoa," said Reno, reaching out and catching Riku as he fell. The hood fell back, revealing hair that seemed to be silver and a face disguised by a blindfold. Reno frowned. Even though his eyes were hidden, his face seemed fairly young, which didn't make sense with hair that color.

He noted Quatre was moving forward, stating that he had some medical training. The young prince removed Riku's long coat, wincing at the amount of blood the dark material had been hiding. A yellow vest had been worn beneath the jacket, and it was stained crimson, and he could see that the grass below Riku was rapidly staining as well. He pulled the sash from his waist and pressed it against the wound in an attempt to staunch the flow of blood.

Relena frowned and moved closer. He seemed to be coming to, and she saw one of his hands raise to the material around his eyes. For some reason, she found her hands moving out, taking hold of the black material, and pulling it from his eyes. She reached out; his face was young, perhaps around Reno's age.

His eyes cracked open, and Relena caught a quick glance of sea-green eyes before a scream of agony was ripped from his throat. He began to thrash, and the boys quickly moved to hold him down before he could hurt himself further. Riku struggled against their grip, trapped in the agony that was consuming him, his head was going to split open, he was sure of it.

"Stop!" a voice behind them shouted. They found themselves literally thrown aside as the kid with the spiky brown hair burst through them. He fell to his knees beside Riku, throwing his hands over the other boy's eyes. "Shh, it's okay Riku," he turned furiously to them, "Where is the blindfold?" he hissed.

Relena reached out shakily, the blindfold still grasped in her fist. The boy swept it away and swiftly replaced it over Riku's eyes. Riku's ragged breathing slowly returned to normal, and the other boy hovered over him.

"I… I'm f-fine, S-Sora," he panted, "Th-ey… didn't… know."

The other boy, Sora, nodded shortly, "You're bleeding."

"N-no kidding, would you do somethin' 'bout it?"

Sora nodded, and rose. With a rush of wind and a flash of light, he summoned his weapon and raised it above Riku, "Heal."

A pale green light and the tinkling of bells followed and the blood flow from Riku's side slowed considerably, but did not stop. Sora's brow furrowed and he glared at his weapon, he smacked the weapon against his palm a couple of times, and several sparks flew from it. He didn't notice the others take several steps away from the sparking weapon. He glared at the weapon one more time and raised it again. He only had the energy for one more, "Heal!" he shouted. Once again came the green glow and tinkling of bells, stronger this time. And this time the wound in Riku's side sealed. Sora beamed and plopped down next to his friend.

Riku pushed himself up onto his elbows, "Thanks."

Sora, once again beaming, responded with a, "No prob." He dismissed his weapon in a flash of light.

Riku glanced down at his side, groaning at his bloodstained clothing, "Darn it, I really liked this vest…"

At this point, the others decided to make their presences known once more, "Ok," Reno burst out, "What the hell is going on?"

Sora turned to him in surprise, "Eh?"

"You sit there and tell him to heal and he does. Your weapon goes 'poof'. And there are shadows running amok smacking people around!"

Riku chuckled under his breath.

Sora seemed oblivious, leaping to his feet once more, "Hi! I'm Sora, I'm a Keyblade Master!"

Riku face-palmed, "Sora! What are you doing!"

Reno blinked, "A what now?"

Sora glanced down at Riku, "What?"

"You're meddling!"

"I'm being honest!"

"You're going to disturb the world order!"

"Wait, what's a Keyblade Master?"

"I am not! I've done this before!"

"And it's a miracle you're still alive."

"Oi, what's going on, yo?"

"Hey! I just saved your butt!"

"Excuse me." The quiet voice demanded confidence and power, and with two words, the verbally sparring friends silenced.

Sora glanced up at the speaker and almost jumped in surprise, "Princess!"

She merely raised an eyebrow, "Are you going to provide some answers or not?"

Riku and Sora exchanged glances. Sora put on his best puppy dog eyes, and even though Riku couldn't see them, he knew they were there. He groaned, _damn those eyes_. "Fine, do what you want. Just, watch your words. Donald would flip."

Sora grinned, "No worries, Riku!" He turned to the group of people while Riku sighed and flopped back on the ground. "What do you want to know?"

They exchanged glances, and seemed to come to an agreement, and the slender blond young man stepped forward, offering his hand, "My name is Quatre Raberba Winner, if you don't mind, I'll ask the questions for all of us."

Sora cheerfully took his hand, "I'm Sora, it's nice to meet you Quarter, no wait, um…"

Quatre smiled good-naturedly, "Quatre."

"Quatre. Right. Got it! What do you want to know?" he repeated.

Quatre nodded, "Well, let's start with the obvious. What were those things?"

Sora's face turned serious, "Those were Heartless. Neo-Shadow Heartless if you want to get technical."

"Heartless?" Duo asked, "What?"

"Heartless are just what their name suggests," Sora explained, "They are beings who have lost their hearts. They have no minds, no consciousness. All they have is hunger, hunger for strong, pure hearts. That's what they do; they steal the living's hearts, their soul, and devour it. The victim disappears completely and is turned into a Heartless as well."

Sora paused in order to let the information sink in. The one with the long hair pulled back into a braid was the first one to speak again, "So basically, you're trying to tell me that those shadow-ish things are soul eating monsters?"

Sora nodded, "Pretty much."

The one with the dark hair tied back snorted, "This is ridiculous."

"Wu Fei," chided Relena.

From his position on the ground, Riku spoke up, "Believe what you want. But today's battle should have been proof enough for you."

Wu Fei snorted again, but didn't say anything else.

Relena spoke again, "What are they doing here? What do they want?"

Sora frowned, scratching his head, "Well, see, that's the problem. We're not entirely sure."

"What the hell d' you mean 'you're not sure'?" Reno cried.

Sora shrugged, "Well, we haven't seen any Heartless for about three years. It doesn't make sense; they were supposed to be sealed away."

"You've had, er, contact with these things before?"

Sora nodded, "The first time I fought the Heartless was when I was fourteen, that was four years ago now. But they were supposed to stay in Kingdom Hearts after I defeated Xemnas."

Duo leaned forward, "Kingdom Hearts? Xemnas?"

Sora blinked, "Oops…"

Riku again smacked his palm into his face, "Sora! The World Order!"

"I know! I know! I'm sorry! It slipped!"

Heero finally spoke up, "What are Kingdom Hearts and Xemnas?"

Sora sighed, "I'm afraid I can't tell you that. Like Riku said, it would disrupt the World Order. I can't risk telling you more than that."

Heero's hand twitched towards his gun, Duo noted with some apprehension. Riku too noticed and pushed himself to his feet standing between Heero and Sora, "And you will accept that answer." Heero and Riku seemed to be having a stare down, which, to Sora, seemed ridiculous seeing as nobody could see Riku's eyes. He finally rolled his eyes, and pulled Riku back by his shoulder, "Next question."

Reno piped up, "What's a Keyblade Master?"

Sora sighed, "I'm a Keyblade Master, and so is Riku."

"Yeah, got that part, what does it mean?"

"Erm, it means that we wield a Keyblade…"

"Which is what?"

Sora sighed and held out his hand in front of him a light appeared in his hand, and suddenly his weapon reappeared, "This is a Keyblade. This particular form is what I call the Kingdom Key."

Wu Fei raised an eyebrow, "Your weapon is a big key?" he asked skeptically.

Sora nodded seriously, "You'd be surprised. This weapon is the only thing standing between this world and its destruction at the hands, err… claws, of the Heartless."

"What's so special about this key of yours?"

"It can only be wielded by someone strong in heart, and it chooses its Master. The Keyblade is a powerful weapon, and the only thing that the Heartless truly fear. I'm sure you noticed it was particularly effective against the Heartless today."

"Okay, then what about his?" Duo asked, motioning to Riku.

Riku raised an eyebrow, and reached out for his bat-wing weapon, "This is my Keyblade, it just has a more ornate design because I have a more powerful Keychain on it."

"Okay," Duo said, "I got one, how do you get your Key-sword thing to disappear like that."

Sora sighed, he could see now why Riku hadn't wanted to answer any questions, "When I'm not using it, it says in my heart," he said, placing a hand on his chest, "When I need it, I can summon it from my heart."

"Why are you the Keyblade Masters?"

"Um… because the Keyblades chose us?"

"You really don't know why they're here?"

"No…"

"Where are you from? You're not from around here."

"Er, Riku and I are from some other island nation called Destiny."

"What are you doing here?"

Sora seemed to shrink in on himself, and in a soft voice, responded, "We're looking for someone… someone very important to us."

Relena took pity on him, "Who? Maybe we can help."

Sora shook his head, "No, Kairi's not here. I would have felt her presence if she was."

"What, she your girlfriend? She run off or something?"

Sora's head shot up to glare at them, "Kairi would not just run off! She wouldn't leave me, Kairi-" A hand landed on his shoulder gently, and he turned to see Riku looking at him.

"Don't bother, Sora," his friend said softly, "You don't need to explain."

Sora nodded, and turned and walked away. Riku sighed, watching him go, "Kairi is the most important person in his life. Unfortunately, her status as a Princess of Heart, and as someone very close to a Keyblade Master mean that she is in danger constantly. She disappeared a month and a half ago, and we've been looking for her ever since. This attack is the first lead we've had. I have a feeling that whoever sent the Heartless also has Kairi. And if they have Kairi, there's a possibility that the other Princesses of Heart have also disappeared."

"These, these princesses of hearts, who are they?"

"Young women with exceptionally pure hearts, they are the key to… well, a great deal of trouble. There are seven in all."

Quatre nodded, "Seven is a powerful number."

Riku blinked, "Errr, right…"

Relena was looking past Riku at Sora, "Is… is he going to be alright?"

Riku glanced back at Sora. He was staring at the sky, one hand on his heart, a distant look in his eyes. Riku sighed, "He'll be fine. He gets like this sometimes. In about two minutes he'll have that cheesy grin back on his face," he chuckled, "It's hard to keep that Keybearer down."

"You two… are very close, aren't you?" she asked.

Riku glanced at her in surprise, and then frowned thoughtfully, "Yeah, I guess you could say that. We've had our, erm, disagreements, but, I guess when it comes down to it, Sora's the brother I never had."

Sora seemed to choose that moment to stop moping, and walked back to them, "Riku, we've wasted a lot of time here."

It was an unusual comment coming from Sora, proving to Riku that his thoughts were still on Kairi. Riku decided that he'd let Sora pout long enough, raised his fist, and brought it crashing down on Sora's skull.

"OW!" howled Sora, clutching his head, pouting up at Riku, "What was that for?"

"Your attitude."

Sora blinked, then grinned ruefully, "You're right."

The others had been watching the exchange in surprise, and were further surprised when Sora turned back to them again, a grin once again on his face, "Well, it's been great me-"

"Redbird! Redbird, where are you?" a new feminine voice interrupted, shouting.

Reno groaned, "Oh, for the love of…" he trailed off as a young woman with short blond hair came running around the corner. He stepped forward to meet her.

"Elena, yo, over here." The woman turned, spotting him, and began to charge over.

"Why aren't you using my code name?" she demanded.

"Because they're stupid, yo."

She stomped her foot angrily, "Reno! Where is the Princess? She was supposed to be with you!"

He raised an eyebrow, "She is."

The woman's composure changed instantly and she looked around his shoulder and spotted Relena.

Elena sighed in relief, "It's good to know Tseng can trust you to do something right."

Reno drew himself up to his full height, "Hey! What's that supposed to mean, yo?"

She snorted at him disdainfully, "Tseng sent me to update you. Half of Parliament has disappeared."

"Eh? They run away?"

She shook her head, "It looks as though they've literally just disappeared. We have witnesses who've stated that those weird shadow things showed up as they were waiting for Relena to arrive, and people started disappearing. Tseng wants us to try and hunt them down."

"You won't find them."

Elena turned to look at the speaker. Standing with the group that consisted of Relena, Lord Quatre, and their assorted guard were two young men she didn't recognize. The one who had spoken had odd silver hair.

"Excuse me?" she demanded.

Riku sighed, "You won't find them. They've had their hearts stolen. They're Heartless now. You might as well say that they're dead."

"Who the heck are you?"

Reno put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head, "It's true, don't push it Elena. I'll explain later."

She glared at him, "You've been shot."

Reno blinked then glanced at his side, "Oh yeah…" Somehow, in all of the confusion, he'd forgotten completely.

The other boy with the silver haired one stepped forward, "I can take care of it."

Reno shrugged, "Sure, Sora."

Sora held out his hand, and the Keyblade reappeared, he figured he had enough energy to deal with this wound. It seemed fairly superficial. He raised the Keyblade above Reno, "Heal."

It was a soothing feeling, Reno reflected. He could hear bells, and there was a cool feeling around his side. The muted green glow and the feeling receded, and he looked back to see his wound had almost completely disappeared, "Sweet, yo."

Sora grinned, nodding, resting his Keyblade on his shoulder, "That's the power of the Keyblade," he beamed.

Elena blinked, "What just happened?"

Reno patted her head, "I'll tell you later."


	5. Chapter 5 Shards of Light

Disclaimer: Not mine.

_Sora grinned, nodding, resting his Keyblade on his shoulder, "That's the power of the Keyblade," he beamed._

_Elena blinked, "What just happened?"_

_Reno patted her head, "I'll tell you later."_

Riku sighed, as interesting as this whole situation was; he was ready to move on. He had a headache, his side was still sore, and he was tired.

"Sora, we should get moving."

Sora turned to glance at him, frowning slightly, and then nodded, "Okay." He turned back to the others, who turned to face the two.

"Sorry we couldn't be more help to you all."

Relena shook her head, smiling, "You've been a great help."

Quatre nodded in agreement, "Yes, thank you for your assistance today."

Sora grinned and Riku nodded.

The two nation leaders held out their hands, and the two Keyblade Masters reached out to take them. Sora gasped as the second his hand touched Relena's they both began to glow, he turned wide eyes to meet her equally surprised eyes. He sensed a great deal of power emanating from her. He glanced to the left to see what Riku thought, and was shocked to see the same thing was happening with him and Quatre. Riku, however, seemed to be controlling his surprise better. Or maybe the blindfold just disguised it. He released Relena's hand and took a step back as Riku did the same.

"What just happened," Sora asked Riku in an undertone.

"I'm not sure…"

But the surprises weren't over yet. Both Keyblade Masters jumped in surprise as their weapons appeared unbidden in their hands. Seemingly of their own accord, the Keyblades then raised, pointing to the two hearts of the people they'd just touched.

"Riku! What's going on?" The wind was picking up, and an intense light burst from the Keyblades.

The others were shouting too, but Quatre and Relena couldn't move. Heero was pulling out his gun, Trowa was doing the same.

"I don't know Sora, but it's best to let the Keyblades do what they will," shouted Riku.

With his words, the light from the Keyblades burst towards Quatre and Relena, and the light emanating from the two hearts flew to meet it. A beam of light connected the Keyblades and the hearts, and slowly, the light pulled away from the hearts, moving towards the Keyblade Masters.

Riku and Sora couldn't hear anything, they were surrounded in light. The guardians and friends of the two important figures didn't move for fear of hurting their friends. Riku noted that there was something in the light at the end of his Keyblade. The light receded and he reached out his free hand towards the light automatically. Sora did the same. The light gave one final flash and disappeared.

The Keyblade Masters blinked dazedly, their faces blank and unaware. Quatre and Relena on the other hand regained control of their bodies and jumped backwards into their friends. Quatre placed a hand over his heart in surprise, and Relena was just staring at the two boys.

Heero had his gun drawn and was aiming at Sora. Trowa had his gun trained on Riku, and Wu Fei, Duo, Reno, and Elena also had their weapons drawn.

"What the hell just happened?" yelled Duo.

"What game are you playing?" demanded Wu Fei.

The two boys didn't answer; they seemed to be in some sort of trance. Relena blinked, and then placed herself between the others and the boys, "No, wait, they didn't hurt us."

Quatre nodded, stepping up next to her, "They didn't know what was happening either."

"They could be acting," pointed out Elena.

Both shook their heads, "The heart does not lie."

This statement was punctuated with the sound of two bodies hitting the ground. They all turned to stare, and saw both of the so-called Keyblade Masters sprawled out on the ground.

Riku groaned as consciousness crept up on him. His head hurt so badly he was tempted to rip it off. He tuned his senses and was startled to note several people hovering over him.

"Um… I think he's coming to."

"How can you tell? He's got a blindfold on."

"No, I think Sora's waking up too."

Unwillingly releasing a groan that proved he was conscious, Riku sat up, "What happened?"

He noted Sora sitting up next to him, "Ugh, my head."

Sora groggily raised his head; he couldn't remember how he'd gotten on the ground. Quite suddenly, he found himself looking down the barrel of a gun and woke up real fast, "Whoa!"

Riku's head snapped to look at Sora, and was startled to note Heero had a gun pointed at his best friend's face, and repeated Sora's sentiment, "Whoa!"

"Heero! No!" Relena rushed forward, wrenching Heero's gun from his hands. Heero, for his part, looked almost disappointed.

Sora shook his head, "Um, could someone fill me in? What's going on?"

They all stared at him, "You… don't remember?" Duo asked.

Both Masters blinked, glanced at each other, and shook their heads.

"I… I remember light," Riku said suddenly. Something in his mind clicked.

"Wait," Sora said, "Me too. But Riku, if it was light…"

"My head should have exploded or something…" Riku muttered, raising a hand to his aching head. But as his hand reached his temple, he realized that something was in his hand. Almost without thinking, he ripped off his blindfold and stared at the object in his hand.

Sora shouted in surprise, "Riku, what're you do-?" he trailed off as he realized Riku wasn't screaming in pain, even though they were sitting in direct sunlight and the sun was still high in the sky.

Riku blinked in surprise, "I… I can see…" He turned to Sora, and, for the first time either of them could remember in two years, since the incident with the Chaser, Riku could clearly see Sora's face, not hidden in the shadows of darkness, not his aura, but his full face. And Sora could clearly see Riku's eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before Riku broke the silence, "You actually look your age. By your attitude, I'd assumed you still looked like you were fifteen."

Sora's face took on an indignant expression, "Hey!" But he couldn't be angry because Riku was laughing, laughing the first real laugh Sora could remember hearing from him in nearly a year, laughing in the way only Riku could. And Sora was laughing too.

The others said nothing as the two strange boys laughed, but waited patiently for them to calm down. Riku was feeling almost… giddy, something he wasn't sure he'd ever felt before. But he was the first to remember where they were and what had happened. He glanced down at the object in his left hand. It was some kind of crystal, or perhaps a jewel. Sora looked at it, then opened his own fist, revealing an identical item.

"What are they?" Sora asked.

Riku shook his head, and closed his eyes, accessing what Sora called his 'Heart's Eye'. In his othersight, the crystal in his hand was completely light, and it was giving off an aura of power. He let his othersight go and opened his eyes, "It's like some kind of… crystallized light. But, I don't understand what it's from, or what it's for."

Sora examined his more closely, "They came from their hearts. They must have very strong hearts." He looked up at the confused group of people surrounding them, meeting the eyes of Quatre and Relena, "You both have pure hearts, and those hearts draw people to you." It was not a question, but a statement.

Riku was nodding in agreement, "These pieces were not originally part of your hearts, but my guess is that your hearts attracted them."

Riku was then startled to note that his headache was gone, he was still tired and sore everywhere else, but his head was clear. He again raised a hand to his eyes, smiling slightly.

Relena watched him thoughtfully, "Your eyes, what was wrong with them?"

Riku's face took on a closed look, and it seemed to Relena that he wished she had not asked, but even as she opened her mouth to apologize, he spoke, "Two years ago, I fought someone who had attempted to steal my Keyblade. My opponent, who proclaimed himself a Chaser, was strong, and to defeat him, I had to delve into the powers of darkness that I had been cut off from. The resulting release of power cast me into shadow, and even though the rest of my body recovered, my eyes were permanently affected by the darkness. The light burned them, and I was as good as blind in full light. In the last month, it had been improving, in the shadows of the evening and night; I could remove the blindfold without pain. But in daylight, it was impossible."

Relena only looked more confused at this explanation, but she said nothing else. These young men spoke of magic and light and dark, things she had never thought existed. Heero, too, seemed skeptical, but still, there was no denying what they had witnessed that day. All in all, she was very confused.

Sora and Riku exchanged glances. It was time to go, they both knew it. This encounter, while it proved that something was indeed happening, had only raised more questions. The return of the Heartless, these odd shards of light, they were new mysteries that they needed to investigate, because they were sure that Kairi's disappearance was linked.

"Well," Sora grinned, "It's been cool meeting you, I hope everything works out, but we gotta get moving."

Riku nodded, and raised a hand in farewell, then turned and began to walk to the nearest palace wall. He had never been one for goodbyes.

Sora grinned at the group of people and Relena stepped forward, "On behalf of my people, I thank you for the assistance you provided us today."

"Just doing our jobs," grinned Sora, putting his hands behind his head, "It's what we do."

They nodded, and Sora shook their hands and said his goodbyes. The sun was setting as he walked over to Riku, who was waiting by the nearest wall. He turned and waved goodbye one last time, and both boys leapt straight up to the top of the wall, and disappeared over the other side.

Duo blinked, "How did they just jump over that wall…?"

The others shook their heads and shrugged, and Relena turned back to the palace, "Well, it seems that I have a country to take care of," she commented. They nodded, there would be a lot of work in the coming days and weeks.

"Master Quatre! Master Quatre!" The deep voice interrupted their thoughts.

Quatre turned in concern, "Rashid, what's wrong?"

The tall man skidded to a stop, pausing only to bow respectfully before continuing, "It's Maken, Queen Sadora-!"

Quatre and Relena's hearts clenched. Quatre seized Rashid's hand, "What Rashid? What about Sadora?"

"Maken has fallen, and Sadora… she may be dead."

Relena swayed and was steadied by Heero's strong arms. Quatre swallowed hard, "When did this happen?"

"Over a week ago, sir."

"A WEEK! Why, how, what, why were we not informed? How could we not have known this?" Quatre stuttered in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, Master Quatre, it seems it all happened very fast, it does not seem that anyone escaped to tell of what happened. And I believe Sanq's Parliament was withholding information as well."

Relena composed herself, "What of the Guardians?"

Rashid shook his head.

"Heaven help us."

A/N: Is anybody reading this by any chance?

No?

ok


	6. Chapter 6 First Encounter

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Not mine, kids.

_Relena composed herself, "What of the Guardians?"_

_Rashid shook his head._

_"Heaven help us."_

Sora yawned tiredly. They'd been walking for two hours in the darkness, and it had been a long day anyway.

"Riiikuuuu," he whined, "It's late, I'm tired, you're tired, can we pleeease just set up camp and go to sleep?"

Riku stopped suddenly, and it took several moments for Sora to realize he had done so before he too stopped walking. He turned to look at his companion, cocking his head curiously.

Riku sighed, "All right, you set up; I'll make the fire and handle the food."

Sora grinned, revitalized. Anything for food.

Sora paused for a moment, only to wipe the sweat from his face and cast a Curaga spell on himself before leaping back into the mass of Heartless. Ever since the day if the disastrous Conference in Sanq, the Heartless had not ceased in making their presence known, though he was grateful that the Nobody had not made any appearance. Yet, anyway. It was just like before, when everywhere was invaded by Heartless and he'd fought battle after battle daily in a vain attempt to stem the flow. But it seemed that nothing he did was ever good enough. He remembered something he'd said in the kingdom of Hollow Bastion when he was fifteen, '_Maybe our journey meant nothing after all…' _and he couldn't help but think it again. _Maybe nothing we have ever done had meant anything. Maybe this will never end. Maybe I'll never get to live my life free of this destiny. _He glanced at Riku. His friend looked tired; Sora suspected that he hadn't been sleeping. Sora fought back the uncharacteristic anger he felt towards life in that moment. Riku, too, was trapped by destiny. These… these Keyblades, they were a great gift and also a terrible curse. He was jerked out of his thoughts as a Shadow scored a hit across his bicep. He quickly twirled the Keyblade in his hand, striking in an upward motion. The Shadow disappeared in a cloud of black smoke, and Sora once again cast Curaga. He glanced at Riku and noted that his friend had just finished off the final Heartless.

"Jeez, I'm tired," groaned Riku. Sora glanced at him in surprise, Riku almost never mentioned when he was reaching his limits. He didn't like to admit that he had any.

Sora gulped, and gathered his courage, "Riku," he began hesitantly, "Have… have you been sleeping?"

Riku looked at him sharply, but Sora didn't back down, his own gaze hardening, "You haven't have you?" he demanded.

They glared at each other for a few moments, but Riku was the one to break the gaze, sighing and looking away, "It's fine."

"No, it's not fine. You need rest too, you're not all powerful!"

"I know that!" shouted Riku. Sora jumped in surprise, studying Riku closely as he continued, "I know," he whispered, "But there's nothing you can do to help me. It's something I have to face on my own."

"It's the nightmares again, isn't it?" Sora asked softly, his brows pulled together in concern.

Riku didn't say anything, but nodded shortly.

Sora chewed on his lower lip, knowing it was true. He couldn't help Riku. Riku had had nightmares since he was sixteen, and they had intensified until the whole event with the Chaser. After that fight, Riku had dreamt of it for a year after, and then the dreams had diminished, and eventually disappeared. Sora suspected it was because Riku had finally forgiven himself, and allowed his own heart to heal. So why, why now?

Riku seemed to sense that he was thinking too hard, and shook his head with a sad smile, "Don't worry about it, Sora. I'll fall asleep eventually."

Sora nodded, "I'm watching you."

Riku laughed, "Yeah, I know."

They sat in silence for a while, gathering their strength again. Finally Riku stood, "Come on, we can make it a few more miles before camping."

Sora nodded, picking up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. Together, they headed west.

They barely knew where they were going. The day after Kairi had disappeared, they'd felt helpless, not knowing where to start looking. A cryptic letter from their friend and fellow Keyblade Master, the King of Disney had arrived, simply telling them to head west and apologizing for not being able to accompany them.

Now, they were following the trail of Heartless and the whispers and rumors of odd events occurring towards the west. Sora was used to such wandering travels, however. He would follow his intuition and his heart; neither had ever failed him before. And they would find the answer to what was going on.

Two hours later, the sun had set and the two finally dropped their bags. Riku didn't say anything, and didn't even bother to remove his shoes before collapsing into his bedding. Sora spread his own out, too tired to even be hungry. He kicked off his shoes, and lay back. Yawning widely, he closed his eyes and felt himself drifting off. Usually they traded watching at night, but Sora knew that he'd sense any threat to them and wake up, and succumbed to his exhaustion.

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Riku was laughing as he ran across the sand, Sora close behind him. They were having their usual race, but since they'd returned home, it hadn't been the challenge it had once been. It was just something they did in pure fun. Of course, it had always been fun, but somewhere within them, there had been a serious part about it. Now, that was gone, and, while the boys were still competitive, they both knew the deep respect they had for each other. Sora, laughing, passed Riku, sand flying. They had nearly reached the finish; Sora pushed himself harder, running as fast as he could. Riku gathered his strength, pushing off and leaping hard and fast. Riku's feet hit the ground parallel to Sora's, and they passed the invisible finish together.

It was evening, and the three of them sat on the paopu tree together, watching the sun set over the water.

"I'm glad you two are finally here with me," whispered Kairi.

Sora peered at her closely, "Kairi, we've been back for months."

Riku frowned thoughtfully, "No, it's been a year."

The other two faced him surprised, "Has it really been so long?" Sora asked.

Kairi didn't face him, "I know, but you were gone for so long, and I missed you both so much…" she trailed off, her eyes sad. A hand rested on her head, and she turned in surprise to Riku. He grinned at her, ruffling her hair.

"Don't worry, you won't get rid of us so easily again."

She smiled at him, and Sora nodded in agreement, "Yeah, Kairi, we're not going anywhere."

"But, the note-"

"Don't worry about it; we'll deal with that when the time comes."

She nodded back at them, and Sora took her hand and squeezed it. The two of them sat there and smiled at one another for a long moment. Riku rolled his eyes at them, "Get a room."

They both jumped, and then flushed. Sora grinned apologetically at his taller friend, his free hand scratching the back of his head, but he didn't let go of her hand.

"I should be getting back," Sora sighed, "My mom has been insane about curfew since I got back. She wasn't this strict with me when I was twelve! Heck, she's not this strict with the twins either."

"When you were twelve, you hadn't disappeared for a year and a half and fought countless dangers," Riku pointed out.

Kairi giggled as Sora pouted, "But I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself!"

Riku grinned back, "I know that, and I'm fairly certain she knows that. But the truth is, she missed her baby."

Sora's pout seemed to reach new levels of pathetic, "I'm not a baby."

Riku only laughed.

Sora's face suddenly turned serious, "The note…"

Riku sighed, "We'll just keep our eyes and ears open, Sora. If the Keyblades are needed again… then… we'll do what we have to do."

Both Kairi and Sora looked away, and Riku could feel the fear rolling off of them. The fear of being separated again, the fear that one of them wouldn't come out of the next situation unscathed. They really had been so lucky before, but that luck couldn't possibly last forever.

Sora jumped from the tree, and turned back, offering his hand back to Kairi, helping her down. He then turned expectantly to Riku.

"You two go on ahead," Riku told them, looking a bit uncomfortable, "I'm gonna stay here for a bit longer."

Sora looked at him, concerned, "You could stay at my place tonight, if you want."

Riku shook his head, "No, it's fine. I just want to stay here a bit longer."

The other two looked at each other in concern. They both knew Riku hadn't been able to sleep much recently. He had vaguely mentioned dreams of the past being the reason. They also suspected that his family wasn't helping the situation. They knew Riku had to be the one to face his past, but they wished that he'd let them help. Finally, Sora nodded, and he and Kairi walked towards the boats, hand in hand.

Stretching out on the tree, Riku attempted to calm his already frazzled mind. Maybe tonight, with the waves lulling him to sleep, the dreams would stay away.

Hours later, Riku tiredly watched the sun rise. He'd only gotten a few hours of sleep, but he did feel better than he had the day before. He slid off of the tree, stretching. He wandered to the edge of the small islet, and hopped off, landing lightly in the knee deep water. The water was cool and pleasant, and he sighed, savoring the calming sensation.

"Carrier of The Road to Dawn."

Riku nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise as a voice spoke from behind him. He whirled, and to his surprise, there, standing beside the tree, was a figure in full armor.

It spoke again, "Hand over the Keyblade."


	7. Chapter 7 Darkness Claims

Disclaimer: It's not mine, nor will it ever be mine.

Chapter 7 Darkness Claims

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_"Carrier of The Road to Dawn."_

_Riku nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise as a voice spoke from behind him. He whirled, and to his surprise, there, standing beside the tree, was a figure in full armor._

_It spoke again, "Hand over the Keyblade."_

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"What? Who are you?" Riku demanded, climbing back up onto the islet.

The figure didn't respond, but reached out his hand. To Riku's shock, a Keyblade materialized in the armored figure's hand.

"What? How do you have a Keyblade?!"

The figure didn't speak, but held the Keyblade in what appeared to be an offensive position.

Riku blinked, holding up a hand, "Hold it, what do you want?"

"Relinquish the Keyblade."

"What? No!"

"So be it. I'll take it myself."

The figure charged. Riku leapt away from him, "Fine, we'll play your way." He reached out his own hand.

The Keyblade flickered into existence in his hand and then disappeared, but it didn't go to his heart.

"What?" Riku whispered. He held his hand out again, focusing on his heart. Again, nothing. He couldn't sense his Keyblade.

"Looking for this?" Riku's head shot to his attacker, and to his shock, the Road to Dawn appeared in the armored man's hands.

_How did this guy get my Keyblade?! _ His heart was pounding, and distantly, he realized he was afraid. It had been a long time since he'd been truly afraid. But here he was, weaponless, defenseless.

The armored figure attacked again, and Riku once again evaded, landing a good forty feet from his attacker.

"I will allow you to live. We will return for the others."

_He doesn't mean Sora? _The figure turned away from him, still holding the Road to Dawn. But Riku wasn't letting anyone walk away with his Keyblade, not after everything that had happened.

A sudden memory, from long ago sprang to the front of his mind. _A Keyblade was in his hand, and Sora was in front of him, yelling at him. Within his own heart was anger and jealousy, and he raised the Keyblade at Sora. Sora reached out his hand, and the weapon disappeared from Riku's hand and reappeared in Sora's._

And Riku knew what he had to do. He could only pray that his heart was stronger than that time, and that he truly believed in himself. His hand reached out, and he reached out with his whole heart. His heart pounded as the thief began to walk away. He thought of his friends, those closest to him. And something in him clicked. A flash of light and the Road to Dawn appeared in his outstretched hand. His attacker skidded to a stop and jumped away from Riku, staring at his empty hand in surprise.

A cocky grin slowly crossed Riku's face. Armed and empowered with this feeling in his heart, he was ready to fight once again, "What's the problem? Lose something?" he smirked, raising his Keyblade up to the side of his face, aiming it at his opponent, left arm pointing loosely in the same direction. The armored man turned to face him again. Something like a growl was emitted from his opponent, and Riku couldn't help but grin wider.

They charged towards each other.

The sun was high in the sky, and Riku blinked sweat and blood from his eyes. Nothing he did affected this guy, that armor was certainly doing its job. Unfortunately, Riku wore no such armor, and his left arm had been nicked and he'd taken a hit to the head. Distantly, Riku found himself wishing that Sora would sense something and show up. He was tired. He shook his head and hardened his resolve. He wasn't going down like this, not after everything he'd gone through to return home.

He leapt high into the air, coming down at his opponent, who parried. Riku blocked and spun away, swinging down in a slashing motion. He connected, but again, the armor prevented him from doing any damage. His opponent raised his Keyblade and brought it down in a move to crack Riku's skull, but Riku brought his own blade up, catching it. They strained against each other, looking for weakness. Riku suddenly found himself stumbling forward as his opponent suddenly pulled back, and the Road to Dawn flew from his hand with another strike, sliding into the sand several feet away.

Riku leapt back, away from his attacker. He could hear his heart pounding as he panted. _Who is this guy? _ He once again found himself weaponless. He could feel Dawn's presence, and glanced at it out the corner of his eye. The guy in the armor moved forward, raising the other Keyblade. _How did he get the Keyblades? _Riku once again extended his hand towards his Keyblade as the attacker charged him. Dawn appeared in his hand in a flash of light. The other Keyblade once again slammed into Dawn, sending a shockwave down Riku's arm. Riku winced, summoning his agility and speed and slipped further away from his attacker, jumping to the paopu tree.

"Who are you?" he demanded, Keyblade raised beside his cheek.

Silence.

Riku's eyes narrowed, "Who are you?!"

"A Chaser."

"A what?" murmured Riku, realizing he wouldn't receive an answer. He had decided that this 'Chaser', who wielded his own Keyblade, was part of the disturbance the King had written about in that letter.

The Chaser crouched, signaling that he was about to attack again. Riku's own muscles coiled as he too prepared to spring. Just as he was about to launch his tired body forward again-

"RIKU!! Where are you?"

Sora. Riku couldn't help but feel relieved. But he didn't answer his friend, or take his eyes off of his attacker. The Chaser also did not move. Riku spotted movement out of the corner of his eye, and Sora leapt onto the bridge that lead to the islet. He hadn't noticed the Chaser. But he did notice that Riku had his Keyblade drawn and that his friend was bleeding.

"Riku? What?"

"Sora, don't move," was all he said. Sora noticed the armored figure standing a few feet away. And he also noticed the weapon the other person carried.

"What? A Keyblade? Riku, what?"

Riku didn't get the chance to answer as the Chaser turned his attention to the younger teenager.

"Carrier of the Kingdom Key."

Sora turned and blinked, "Eh?"

The Chaser shot at Sora almost too fast to see. Sora reacted instantly, reaching out his hand for his own Keyblade. It flickered and disappeared, reappearing in the hands of the Chaser. Riku saw and he reacted.

Sora braced himself for impact, having no time to move. A clang rang out, and Sora opened his eyes to see Riku straining in front of him.

"Riku!"

"Get back, Sora," grunted Riku, "This guy was using my Keyblade when he first attacked me."

Sora's eyes widened and he leapt off of the island, placing a good distance between himself and the fight. Footsteps behind him made him whirl quickly, but he relaxed as he recognized Kairi running towards him. Neither of them spoke, but turned to watch their friend struggle against his opponent.

The Chaser was bored, and toying with him, Riku knew. He could feel both Sora and Kairi behind him, and he wished they'd run. Something about them being there made him worried, even though they'd been in dangerous situations before. _Not unarmed. _He shook the thought away and refocused on his fight. Their Keyblades were still locked together when the Chaser dismissed his original blade, freeing one hand. He raised it away from them, and Riku didn't understand what he was doing. He did two seconds later when he heard his two friends shout in surprise. The Chaser had cast Magnet on them, effectively trapping them where they stood. Riku's breath caught in his throat as the Chaser raised his hand again, flame dancing around his arm. _No! _Without thinking, Riku broke away, moving to intercept the spell. Moments later, he realized that it had been a trap.

He barely registered the pain, but turned his surprised eyes down to his stomach, where his opponent had buried Sora's keyblade. He could vaguely hear his friends screaming. Then the Chaser twisted and yanked the weapon from his side, and all Riku knew was pain, and the ground came rushing to meet him.

Sora and Kairi were freed from the spell's hold, and raced forward, completely disregarding the threat, "Riku!"

Sora's Keyblade was suddenly held in front of them, cutting them off from their friend. Riku, from his position on the ground, was aware enough to realize that his friends were in danger. He lifted his Keyblade, making eye contact with Sora, and threw it with all the strength he had left.

Sora caught it easily, and leapt forward, fire dancing in his eyes. As he and the Chaser battled, Kairi ran to Riku's side. She dropped to her knees beside him, tears welling in her eyes, "Riku," she whispered.

Riku tilted his head towards her, trying not to let the pain he was feeling be translated onto his face, "It's ok, Kairi."

She shook her head, "No, we just got you back, you can't go."

Riku didn't answer as she ripped off the jacket she was wearing and pressed it against his bleeding abdomen. She turned her eyes to the other boy currently fighting the Chaser, fear evident in them.

Riku noticed the darkness edging around his vision, and felt Kairi take his hand, squeezing desperately. He turned his dimming sight back to Sora, fear for his friend in his own heart.

Sora seemed to be holding his own, using his own magic to counter the Chaser's, and using his own unique style of improvised fighting to counter the Chaser's more rigid and practiced style. It happened too fast for him to see, or perhaps he blacked out for a moment, because suddenly, Sora was on the ground with a shout of pain, Dawn flying from his hands. The Chaser raised his weapon, and Kairi flew forward, crying out in horror.

"Kairi-" gasped Riku weakly. Time seemed to slow down. Kairi ran, the weapon bore down on Sora. _No… no, it can't end like this. Not Sora, not Kairi. Please, anyone but them. No, I won't let it end this way. _He dove deep within himself, finding a part of him that had been locked away for a long, long time. He thought it had been taken away, but he knew that it was still there, waiting to be unlocked.

His darkness.

'_You don't belong to the darkness anymore, Riku.'_

_You were right, Your Majesty. I don't belong to darkness. But…_

_My darkness belongs to** me.**_

It happened in an instant, but it felt like so much longer. One second everything was falling apart, and the next, he was slamming his body into the Chaser's. Sora's Keyblade flew from his hands and returned to Sora. Kairi skidded to a stop. She hadn't even seen Riku move, and there he was. She ran to Sora, and the two of them moved away to regroup. Riku didn't waste a moment, knowing he didn't have much time left. And he dove into the powers he had thought were gone. He dimly heard screaming, then realized it was his own voice screaming wordlessly. His eyes glowed, and darkness circled him. A shockwave exploded from around Riku, and the darkness surrounded him. But he did not let it consume him. He harnessed it, made it his own. And he sent everything he had at his enemy.

There was a flash of light, and then complete swirling darkness, mingling together in a whirlwind around Riku and the Chaser. The two disappeared in the darkness from Sora and Kairi's sight. Then it burst outward, and then imploded on itself with the sound of an explosion, and the spectacular show of light and darkness disappeared. It took several moments for their eyes to readjust, but when they did, there was only one figure lying crumpled on the ground.

"Riku!"

"Riku!"

Riku!"

**"Riku, wake up!"**

Riku sat upwards, shouting, Keyblade appearing in his hand, slashing forward, meeting another blade with a clang.

"Riku!" Sora shouted again, "Snap out of it!"

Riku panted, chest heaving, and blinked the sleep rapidly out of his eyes. There was no island, no sand, no ocean, and no Chaser in sight. Just Sora and a small clearing in the woods. His Keyblade disappeared from his shaking hands, and he collapsed to his knees, hands clutching his head.

Sora sighed in relief, dismissing his own Keyblade, kneeling beside his friend. Riku was shaking, struggling to regain control of his breathing. Sora did the only thing he could think of. He wrapped his arms around his shaking friend's form.

It took Riku a full ten minutes before he trusted himself to speak, pushing away from Sora slowly, "Sorry."

Sora shook his head, his wide eyes still concerned. He didn't say anything, but waited patiently.

Sighing, Riku sat down more comfortably, knowing that Sora was waiting for him to speak. He silently hoped that Sora would just let it go. He didn't want to talk about it.

But Sora was just as stubborn as Riku himself, and Riku sighed again, "What?"

"Tell me," Sora said. Riku said nothing. Sora grabbed his friend's arm, "Come on, Riku. Talk to me. This can't go on."

"Sora, what difference does it make? Do you really think it's going to help?"

"It might, you won't know unless you give it a chance."

Riku groaned, "Fine."

Sora blinked in surprise, "Really?"

"Yes, really," snapped Riku.

A grin slowly crossed Sora's face, "Ok, tell me."

"It was the islands. It started off with us racing, like we used to."

Sora nodded with a fond smile on his face.

Riku shook his head and sighed, "Then it turned to the night before the Chaser showed up, and then the fight, ok?"

Sora nodded again, he'd suspected as much. He continued to listen intently, but realized that Riku wasn't talking anymore. "Hey, keep going," he demanded.

"What else is there to say, Sora?"

"Please, I knew that you were dreaming about the whole Chaser thing. You need to talk about it."

"I don't want to say anything else."

Rolling his eyes, Sora poked Riku in the side, "Liar. What were you thinking? You never really told us what happened that day before we showed up."

"He just showed up and attacked me. There's nothing else to tell."

Sora sighed tiredly, Riku was being too stubborn for him to deal with, and he still wanted some sleep.

"Fine, whatever, you know what, come talk to me when you're done being stupid." With that, he turned and marched back to his mess of blankets.

"I was scared."

Sora froze mid-step. He turned back to his friend. Riku took a deep breath, "I can't remember another time that I was as frightened as I was that day. When he showed me that he had my Keyblade in his hand, I felt so… hopeless."

Sora took a step towards his friend as Riku laughed mirthlessly, "The ironic thing is, the only thing that saved me was a memory of our fight in Hollow Bastion. Where you took the Keyblade back." Riku shook his head, "And then, when you two showed up, and you couldn't summon your Keyblade… I can't describe it in words, Sora. I just can't. And when he attacked you both… I felt so desperate, and I didn't want to lose you two, not after I'd struggled through so much to find you guys and protect you." Riku shook his head, lowering his eyes, "So I was scared."

Sora knelt down beside his friend, putting his arm around Riku's shoulders. Riku hated fear, he hated how it made him feel, and he hated to admit it when he was scared. Sora knew how hard it had been for Riku to tell him this. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

Riku sighed, hating it how Sora was always right. He did feel better. Sora released him, suggesting that he try and get some more sleep. So he lay down once again, and for once, fell into a dreamless sleep.


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